US helicopter rescued in Strait of Hormuz

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that two US helicopter crew members were 'fine' following their rescue by a US Navy drone after their Apache gunship went down in the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz. A US Navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew from the waters of the strait, the US military's Central Command said. The pair were rescued within about two hours and were in stable condition, Centcom said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether the Apache had been shot down by Iranian fire, experienced ⁠mechanical failure, or encountered another problem. Asked if he knew what had brought the helicopter down, Trump said a report would be issued later on ⁠Tuesday. 'The pilots are fine,' Trump said, speaking on the runway at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport before returning to Washington, DC 'Nobody injured.'
IRAN, ISRAEL STOP ATTACKS
Iran and Israel said that they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Trump, settling back into a tenuous ceasefire announced on April 8. Two Iranian air defence personnel were killed in Israeli strikes, Iran's military said, and their funerals ​were due to be held on Tuesday afternoon ⁠in Tehran. No deaths were reported in Israel after the Iranian strikes. Oil prices, which had risen on the exchanges of fire, ​gave up most of their gains on Tuesday after the two sides paused attacks.
Tehran warned, however, that it would resume hostilities if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon. On Tuesday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for the Lebanese city of Tyre ahead of possible ​strikes. The order included the Christian quarter, an area previously excluded from evacuation warnings. The military said Hezbollah were operating there, without providing evidence. Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon helped trigger the latest missile exchanges between Iran and Israel - the most direct confrontation since the April ceasefire - complicating Trump's push to end a war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.
Trump also told reporters he might have 'an idea' for an Iran deal within a few days, without elaborating. The Republican president, struggling with record low approval ratings as November's midterm elections approach, has often hinted at an imminent deal with Tehran, but none has yet materialised.
Iran had fired missiles towards Israeli territory late ​on Sunday, calling the strikes retaliation for attacks on Hezbollah on the outskirts of Beirut. Israel then hit Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical ​plant that it said ⁠was used to produce ballistic missiles. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it retaliated with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.
US and Israeli officials said Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke. In an interview with Axios, Trump said he had ​warned the Israeli leader not to return to war with Iran: 'I said, 'Bibi, you better be careful, or you will ⁠be on your own ​very soon.'
Meanwhile, US Energy ​Secretary Chris Wright ​said on Tuesday that ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is rising 'very meaningfully' as the conflict with Iran continues. 'I would say rising very meaningfully,' Wright said ⁠when asked how ship traffic is flowing through ⁠the Strait compared to a week or two ago. Wright made the remarks during an Atlantic Council conference and added that it would ​take many ⁠months to get back to ​normal flows of energy once ‌the war is over.
Vessel movements on the strait have ​been largely blocked since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, interrupting around 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. But some vessels have since begun transiting the ​narrow waterway bordering Iran, often with transponders turned off ​and under cover ⁠of darkness. Disruptions to normal flows have triggered a surge in global energy prices, upending ​economies around the world and ⁠creating a political ​vulnerability for US President Donald Trump and his Republican party ahead of midterm elections in November. Washington has been pressing for a ​peace deal with Tehran that would include ​a full reopening of the strait. — Reuters